Comments on: Is the Baby Getting Enough?

By: Strocel.com | Parenting Advice from the Breastfeeding Police

Strocel.com | Parenting Advice from the Breastfeeding Police — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 00:38:29 +0000

[...] doing. How much does your child sleep? How much does your child poop? How much does your child cry? How much does your child weigh? We read these signs like we’re reading tea leaves, searching for order in the chaos. And [...]

By: emma

emma — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:55:34 +0000

Yes this is something new moms worry about ans is often the thing they are told by midwives and health visitors truth is most babies who latching on right are getting enough milk and its a shame this is one of the main reasons moms give up breastfeeding.
As a breastfeeding support worker i have this question asked everyday.

By: Lady M

Lady M — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:30:47 +0000

The concept of breastfeeding was very stressful with the first baby, but just knowing that “it works” was enough to make things easy with baby 2. It was just really weird (but amazing and wonderful) that my body could make milk.

Great tips!

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:56:52 +0000

I fully agree with not waking a sleeping baby for any reason. If they are hungry they will wake up! Let mom get as much rest as she can ’cause having a baby is a full time job.

By: TheFeministBreeder

TheFeministBreeder — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:45:07 +0000

This is great Amber. I could have used this right after I had baby #2. I spent a lot of time hunting down info on whether or not my baby was getting enough – I was SO worried about it.

It all worked out though.

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:51:22 +0000

This is really helpful Amber – thank you!

By: *Pol

*Pol — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:42:41 +0000

Great stuff.

I had other issues and fears around nursing:
Going from and A cup to a DD OVERNIGHT,yeast, mastitis, hard ducts, really painful engorgement, TOO MUCH MILK!

Everytime I had a let-down the milk would squirt right to the back of my poor little tyke’s throat and he would choke and sputter and let go… I was afraid he was only getting the sweet fore milk and missing out on the fatty, later stuff. But he did feed “all the time”, so he thrived.

The nurses suggested I should have had twins I had so much milk… not very helpful to me because it was so painful and completely consumed my life (night and day) for the first 3 months.

On the bright side, pumping was never hard for me, I just stuck a clean container on the vacant breast and the fresh air would make a let-down happen…BAM!… I looked like a milk sprinkler! Shot clear across the room if I didn’t cover it. Night was the worst, I would SOAK 4 bathtowels every night (between the ample feedings) just from the constant drip…. I don’t have words to express how terrible it was. (but that passed fairly quickly).

My darling baby son decided he was too busy to nurse at 7 months… the rejection was painful, but I kept collecting the milk until he was 1 year old. Weaning was fairly easy for him, but hard on me as my breasts didn’t want to give up… if only there was a milk bank in our town, I could have helped somebody else with my crazy milk machines.

THANKFULLY with baby #2 my breasts seemed to have got the idea a little better… the engorgement was still HUGE, but it calmed down to just more-than-ample milk fairly quickly.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:48:46 +0000

Heh. I wondered why she wasn’t pooping as much (down to 1 or 2 times instead of 4 or 5 times per day). Not that I’m complaining. Changing diapers is not my favourite thing.

By: kgirl

kgirl — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:05:36 +0000

Great primer for new moms. I think the real key is to nurse often and on demand. As a baby gets older, they can also get distracted from the breast, dropping feeds early because something more interesting is going on. Important to allow that baby back when they realize that they are still hungry.

And despite certain conventional advice, I NEVER woke my sleeping babies to nurse, or for any other reason.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:36:00 +0000

appreciate the comments too- but want to emphasize- get help if you are concerned! Cole was NEVER happy, colicky, etc, and I did not know what a normal baby should look like. He nursed continuously, and 45 minutes was the most he slept for 5.5 wks – I was exhausted and of course stressed out… I am a perfectionist, and did not get what was going on, latch was good, suck was strong, positioning was relaxed… – my ample boobs did not produce near enough milk, which we finally found out at the breastfeeding clinic near Kitsilano. After meds, 8x/day pumping, 8x/day feeding, we were able to resolve the issue. *I* emphasize that, not all women are built this way… In fact, even through pregnancy, my body did not "act" pregnant… I may just be a "running cow" as my grandma terms it, coming from a dairy farm and knowing to WALK the cows in to get milked…